Camille Anne’s LET 101

LET is an exam. The Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) will not measure how great a teacher you can be but it will definitely give you the right to teach. Simply passing the LET doesn’t mean that you’re a great teacher. And just the same, failing it does not define you a bad teacher.

LET is a battery exam of endurance and perseverance. It isn’t just a 450-item test intertwining all sorts of subjects. It will test how far can you go and can you make it.

LET is not a stock knowledge-based examination. Whether you’ve enrolled yourself in a review center or not, I assure you that not all the things you learned in your four-years stay in college will appear in the exam. You have zero assurance that you know all the test items so you need to study or at least, review.

In short,the LET is a very unpredictable exam which makes it a difficult test. Here are some ways that helped me conquer it:

Tips to Pass the LET

1. Know Yourself

Gauge yourself, the situation you are in, and the probabilities that might happen while reviewing for the LET. If you’re planning to review full-time for LET, well, lucky enough you have a lot of time but the tendencies are you’ll be procrastinating because you know, you still got time just like what I did (Lol :P)

If you’re employed already, reviewing will be tougher since work can get demanding, you’ll need to be flexible enough. Know these things because they are often ignored.

Discover your strengths and weaknesses.

This will economize your time. If you know your strengths, you can just brush up and focus on your weaknesses.

Gauge yourself 2.0

Know what kind of learner you are. Are you global or analytical? Do you want to work alone or with buddies?

Know your learning styles.

Know your study habits.

2. Plan, Prioritize and Schedule.

Plan how will you make the most out of your time.

Prioritize every test item deserves to be prioritized. Focus on the things you need the most. For instance, for BSEd, major will occupy 40% of your rating so you need to allot more time reviewing your major than GenEd.

Schedule, set dates and time for reviewing, and don’t ditch your schedule. You don’t need to go gaga over reviewing, kill your social life, and bury yourself in reviewing. Preparing for LET needs a little sacrifice but you need also to enjoy. Have breaks, go out once a while.

Taking our much-needed icebreakers while studying

3. Strategize

The LET requires memorization but it does not end there. You can memorize the Code of Ethics for Teachers all you want and you can.. but that might be a total waste of time. Some items on the LET are tricky and are intended to be analyzed and can’t be solved with pure memory. With limited time and abundant things to review/study, you must know how to strategize.

Use Mnemonics. Invent yours if you want to.

Make funny stories out of it, be creative. Don’t kill yourself in reviewing. Don’t be dead serious. Learning can be fun. When I was reviewing with my friends, we invented a funny story on one of the women known in our history during the Katipunan. In another instance, I made BF Skinner as my boyfriend who’s skinny body is like stick and his head is so big for this body. Imagine him as a lollipop. O for his head, for operant conditioning. Silly things like those 🙂

Use Timelines, Graphic Organizers, mind maps.Connectionism is very important since LET is a mixture of everything. It will help you retrieving things you learn in the fastest and most organized way.

4. Equip your gun with bullets

You may buy or borrow review materials. A tip in buying LET reviewers: don’t buy the review materials outside PRC. Buy materials which are published and also printed out as books. Also, never give your “full trust” on your reviewer—there could be typos in the answer keys, etc. If you think there’s something wrong, always search and verify.

The Internet is your friend. I use the power of internet on reviewing for LET. When I was reviewing, though I already have review materials, books, I still search for other information on web.

Books. Your college books on Professional education subjects are still among the best materials for LET review. Don’t take them for granted; use them in reviewing. Also, your notes during college will be helpful.

6. Checklists and To Do lists.

Make checklists on the things you need to review. Make a scope. You can’t just pour all the necessary things into your coconut shell. It needs to be tested. Answer drills, examine your mistakes, and tally your scores. Your checklist contains what to study. Your To-Do list should contain drills that need to be answered.

7. Eat real food, not junk.

Take-outs from fast food are not food for the brain but junk. Eat healthy food, vegetables and fruits. Your brain needs nutrition as well as your body.

I don’t advise energy drinks. It keeps you alive but it makes you forgetful. As for coffee? Well, I did taste most of the new flavors of Nescafe cold/ice. It’ll fight the sleepy head in you but ruin your bone marrow in the long run 😛 Don’t over do it. I seldom drank coffee before, but I drank a lot while reviewing and now, I seldom drink again.

So what should you drink? Milk can help, chocolate drinks as well. But the Brain needs a lot of water. Water is still the best!

Eat healthy! Softdrinks are okay once in a while like in our boodle 😉

8. Sleep a lot.

Yes there are a lot of things to do and to study but you need to rest.

My Dirty Little Secrets on Passing the LET

Like any LET passer, I have my very own tips I practiced to pass the exam. 🙂 Some are listed above but these ones here are very personal:

#1 Tip: Ora Et Labora/Pray and Work

Some people would use the first one without doing the other or vice versa. The tendencies are, first, if you rely on mere prayer, how will you answer the test items if you don’t review? Prayer won’t answer the test items alone.

Second, work can work alone but sometime you need a little faith. So for me, it’s best if you combine the two—pray hard, work harder.

#2 Tip: Law of Attraction

I’m sure you are nervous for the LET. Well, every LET passer felt the same nervousness you are feeling right now. It is normal but never allow that nervousness to control you to the point you think you can’t make it.

When I was reviewing for the LET, I never thought, not even once that I would have a chance to retake it. N-E-V-E-R! I see it as it’s all or nothing. Pass or die. Call me crazy, but I don’t want to fail so every night I would imagine myself confident in facing the LET (but reality, I still got bunch of drills to finish).

I see myself, passing the LET every night. It’s like seeing the finish product of your goal while your hands are constructing it.

#3 Tip: Believe in Yourself

Do not simply find people who will tell you, “You can do it!”. You, yourself, must believe that you can do it.

When I was reviewing, I had all the doubts in the world if I can make it. But I’ve always believed that I can make it happen. I never let those doubts bring me down. I’m bigger than those what I fear.

No matter how doubtful I am, I never see myself failing the LET. This is ironic but true. If you can create doubts in yourself, you can also destroy it. The first person who should believe that you can is you.

#4 Tip: Surround yourself with dreamers, believers and makers.

It’s so nice to have people around you who would make you feel that you are doing fine. Also, those who feel the same feelings as you are feeling.

Well okay, what I’m really trying to say is people even at your home will most likely not understand what you are feeling at the moment unless they are also teachers who experienced the same thing. No matter how supportive your family is, they will never feel the exact feeling your feeling right now—the pressure, the excitement, the worries and all sorts. The people who will understand you are those you are in the same ground where you are standing. Find them.

In short, they are your co-LET takers. Surround yourself them who dream to be licensed, believe that they can and make it happen. 🙂

#5 Tip: Lend A Hand.

When I reviewed for LET, I never did it alone. I can actually review alone but I want to help others that’s why I reviewed with my friends:

There are times that I already mastered the lessons but if they need help and time to swallow things slowly. I would reach a hand and be with them. I just want to help since I feel how they are feeling. It’s a satisfying feeling when you are also in need yet you still find yourself helping others as well as finding yourself being helped by others when you need them. Passing the LET with them is a greater success than passing it alone. 🙂

For those who are taking the LET for the first time, don’t be afraid. I applied for LET right after graduation, fresh and young at 19. I took the exam at 20 (exactly a month old after turning 20). Then, nailed the LET at 20! No obstacles can hinder you unless you let them.

For those who will take it again, never lose hope. Chances are given. Choices are made. You still have chance to take the LET. Passing the LET is a choice. If you didn’t make it for the first time, your success will be sweeter than what was supposed to be your first so never give up. Pick up yourself, learn from your mistakes and do better. 🙂